By Alli P

Should everyone learn to play an instrument? You’ve probably all heard about how helpful learning an instrument can be, but have you ever thought about this: if instruments benefit people so much, then why doesn’t everyone learn to play one? And what are the reasons as to why they do or don’t want to? 

People learn to play instruments for their many lifelong benefits. But what are these benefits? Learning to play an instrument can improve people’s memory. When someone is playing one, they use both sides of their brain. This makes their brains work harder, and their memory improves. “This is supported by Maestro Eduardo Marturet who states, ‘…research has shown that participation in music at an early age can help improve a child’s learning ability and memory by stimulating different patterns of brain development.’” (Sono Music Brisbane). 

But what about stress? Stress is a detrimental emotion, which can affect people’s lives enormously. Does music help people to deal with stress? The answer is yes. But if music can calm you down, can’t you just listen to music? It’s a lot easier to access songs on your phone, so you don’t need to go through the trouble of learning how to play an instrument, right? Well, even though listening to music can help you calm down, “research has shown that learning to play an instrument brings with it comfort and daily repetition which helps keep the stress away” (Sono Music Brisbane). Psychologist Jane Collingwood proves this by saying “‘…music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies, especially slow, quiet…music. This type of music can have a beneficial effect on our physiological functions, slowing the pulse and heart rate, lowering blood pressure and decreasing the levels of stress hormones’” (Sono Music Brisbane).

Learning to play an instrument can calm you down and help your brain, but what if someone wants to focus on school more than instruments? Well, “extensive research has shown that those who had music training were generally smarter than their counterparts; children who learned to play musical instruments did better in their academic studies than children who had not” (Sono Music Brisbane). 

Why wouldn’t some people want to learn an instrument? While learning music has many benefits, some people run into a few problems. First of all, learning an instrument is time-consuming, and a lot of people don’t want to put in the time and effort to learn. Also, not everyone has enough money to rent or buy an instrument, pay for classes, and keep the instrument in good shape. 

I believe that if people can, they should learn an instrument, but if they don’t have enough money or patience, they could find other ways to gain the benefits of playing an instrument. 

Works Cited

Music, Sono. “5 Reasons Why You Should Learn a Musical Instrument.” Sono Music Brisbane, 5 June 2019, https://sonomusic.com.au/5-reasons-why-you-should-learn-a-musical-instrument/#:~:text=Learning%20a%20musical%20instrument%20not,aspects%20of%20the%20human%20body.&text=It’s%20been%20widely%20studied%20and,also%20muscle%20memory%20as%20well. 

Andreas. “27 Sound Pros & Cons of Learning an Instrument.” E&C, 5 Aug. 2021, https://environmental-conscience.com/learning-an-instrument-pros-cons/. 

About the Author

Allison’s 13 and loves dance, tennis, volleyball, and academics. She’s currently interested in coding and chemistry. Her favorite types of writing are argumentative and informative.